Apple may be looking to grow its share of the video market through an aggressive acquisition, as sources have reported that the company is considering placing a bid in an auction for the popular streaming video service Hulu.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the company is in "early talks" that could lead to an acquisition offer. That's according to two people with knowledge of an upcoming auction.

Hulu has held a high-profile since its launch, in part because it was backed by several media conglomerates in a joint venture. Owners include Walt Disney News Corp. and Comcast Corp.'s NBC Universal. It's worth pointing out that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is both a board member and the largest shareholder of Walt Disney.

The report also noted that Google, Yahoo, AT&T and others have met with bankers representing the company.

Hulu began offering its Hulu Plus subscription service on the iPhone and iPad last year. Last month, however, the company had to revise its app because of new rules from Apple that ban links to out-of-app purchases.

According to data released this spring, Apple holds just 4 percent of the digital streaming and downloadable video market in the U.S in a three-way tie with DirecTV and Time Warner for third place. Netflix takes up the lion's share of the market with 61 percent of all viewings, while Comcast placed second with 8 percent.

Within the video on demand market, which doesn't count Netflix or Hulu, Apple held a more respectable 64.5 percent share in 2010. Microsoft was second with 17.9 percent and Sony came in third with 7.2 percent.

Apple had been rumored to offer remote storage of movies and TV shows in iCloud, but the feature was not announced during the service's announcement last month.

The company's interest in Hulu may also be for its Apple TV set top box. During an earnings conference call on Tuesday, Apple said sales of the device "continue to do well," though the company still calls it a "hobby." Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook noted that his company is "continuing to invest in it because we think that there is something there."

Rumors continue to swirl that Apple is preparing to launch a connected television set, possibly as early as late 2011. If the reports of Apple's plans to enter the high-end television market are indeed true, Apple may be going after Hulu in order to guarantee that an Apple-branded TV launches with sufficient content partnerships and services to disrupt competitors and quickly gain traction.

According to one analyst, Apple could gain $100 billion in market capitalization with a connected TV, assuming that it achieve similar share as industry players such as Sony, Samsung and Philips.

Apple may be looking to grow its share of the video market through an aggressive acquisition, as sources have reported that the company is considering placing a bid in an auction for the popular streaming video service Hulu. ...

This makes no sense at all.

Hulu is not even in the top three, is USA only, and generally when you buy a company like that you *don't* buy it's agreements and contracts with providers, so Apple would be in effect buying nothing but the name (and the name is not that popular or useful).

If you live in the USA and like to watch "The Office" then maybe hulu means something to you, but for the most part it's a tiny also ran company that isn't really worth much. Apple could buy Netflix at triple the going rate and not even blink, but they want to buy hulu instead?

Wouldn't it be great if you stopped assuming people kept the rips? Once you've seen a movie, you've seen it. The difference is that the rips don't force you to watch spoonfed trailers, etc.

I refuse to believe that you would waste the time it takes to rip a DVD to play on an Apple TV when you could take far less time to just put it in a DVD player and skip through the trailers. That's just beyond belief.

I refuse to believe that you would waste the time it takes to rip a DVD to play on an Apple TV when you could take far less time to just put it in a DVD player and skip through the trailers. That's just beyond belief.

What wasted time? Have you ever even used Handbrake? Or Airplay? It probably has never occurred to you that computers can work while you sleep. BTW I've had the same disk out now for going on two weeks. But thanks for your accusatory concern. At least you had the decency to not dispute how terrible their streaming library is...

Yeah, wouldn't it be great if their sucktastic streaming content was anywhere near their DVD-by-mail selection?

Agree wholeheartedly. I just recently put my Netflix account on suspension. I was sick of the constant buffering, pixelation, SD being (seemingly) passed of HD, etc. I'll check back a couple of months from now and see if their quality has improved. If it hasn't, I'll kiss them goodbye.

And Apple can outbid them all if it really wants Hulu. That's the beauty of having almost $80 billion in the bank.

The real beauty is that they would want it to get it off the market. Taking away a choice that would prevent the networks from playing ball with Apple. They wouldn't be able to 'stick with hulu for now', cause there would be no hulu

The real beauty is that they would want it to get it off the market. Taking away a choice that would prevent the networks from playing ball with Apple. They wouldn't be able to 'stick with hulu for now', cause there would be no hulu

This is a great point.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Agree wholeheartedly. I just recently put my Netflix account on suspension. I was sick of the constant buffering, pixelation, SD being (seemingly) passed of HD, etc. I'll check back a couple of months from now and see if their quality has improved. If it hasn't, I'll kiss them goodbye.

You were also correct in saying "60%".

Just have to say in NetFlix's defense that at home I have never seen it buffer other than a second or two at the start and most is in HD with no pixelation, even SD is pretty good. I am on an uprated 30/30 FiOS and using AE. However, when I tried the same set up while on vacation I saw what you do, that was using Time Warner Road Runner.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Hulu is not even in the top three, is USA only, and generally when you buy a company like that you *don't* buy it's agreements and contracts with providers, so Apple would be in effect buying nothing but the name (and the name is not that popular or useful).

If you live in the USA and like to watch "The Office" then maybe hulu means something to you, but for the most part it's a tiny also ran company that isn't really worth much. Apple could buy Netflix at triple the going rate and not even blink, but they want to buy hulu instead?

Ridiculous.

I think the agreements in place would continue, else there is no point.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Just have to say in NetFlix's defense that at home I have never seen it buffer other than a second or two at the start and most is in HD with no pixelation, even SD is pretty good. I am on an uprated 30/30 FiOS and using AE. However, when I tried the same set up while on vacation I saw what you do, that was using Time Warner Road Runner.

I don't have FiOS, unfortunately. But my (cable) download speeds are pretty decent, much higher than the national average. And, I use an ethernet connection, not wifi, so that I get better download speeds.

I think that it's a pipe width problem at their end.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

Just have to say in NetFlix's defense that at home I have never seen it buffer other than a second or two at the start and most is in HD with no pixelation, even SD is pretty good. I am on an uprated 30/30 FiOS and using AE. However, when I tried the same set up while on vacation I saw what you do, that was using Time Warner Road Runner.

No way Apple will be buying Hulu (and especially not for $2B.)
What possible sense would it make? Apple could offer a similar service with little effort or money.
Why pay so much for something you can do better and far cheaper and build from the ground up they way you want it?

No way Apple will be buying Hulu (and especially not for $2B.)
What possible sense would it make? Apple could offer a similar service with little effort or money.
Why pay so much for something you can do better and far cheaper and build from the ground up they way you want it?

For the service agreements alone perhaps?

NoahJ"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." - Mahatma Gandhi

I ripped DVDs myself but he talked about rented DVDs and he got a point. I wouldn't rip something I didn't intend to keep.

No, he doesn't have a point. He made a blatant blanket accusation which, in this case, is patently untrue. Unless he's against format shifting content, in which case he should probably ditch any application that's Airplay enabled.